Alton's boys track and field team is on a roll: Redbirds place second and first in last two meets

COLLINSVILLE – The Alton Redbirds boys’ track and field team is peaking at the right time as head coach Jeff White had hoped.

Alton finished second and first in its last two big meets, one this past Friday at Collinsville, and one the Friday before at Granite City.

Edwardsville and Alton finished in the top two, with the Tigers winning the meet with 70.5 points and the Redbirds finishing second with 62. Granite City finished 12th with 27 points, while Roxana scored eight points. Rounding out the top five were Belleville West with 53 points, Mascoutah with 52 and O'Fallon with 44. The host Kahoks finished sixth with 43.5.

The Redbirds are also peaking at the right time.

“We're coming together at the right time, at the end of the season,” said Alton coach Jeff White. “The weather's nice, and our times are picking up with it. I feel like we're starting to see the end in sight, and I think we're going to be ready these next couple of weeks.”

The Redbirds' individual performances are also a very good sign for postseason success for the team.

“We had a lot of good things happen in the meet,” White said. “It was great to see to see Deonte McGoy out there, finishing second in the 100 and third in the 200. He'd been out for the last couple of weeks, so we're just now getting him back. So he's been a huge boost for us. Cassius Havis in the 1,600-meter run, that was a huge PR for him. He dropped down seven seconds, ran a 4:25 which is a fantastic time. So yeah, great performances today.”

Other highlights in the meet included Alton's McGoy finishing second in the 100 meters with a time of :11.13 and third in the 200 with a time of :22.82, the Redbirds winning the 4x100 meter relay with a time of :42.86, with Edwardsville finishing third at :43.25, the Tigers' Amari Brooks finishing second in the shot put with a throw of 51 feet, 11.5 inches, Alton finishing second in the 4x400 meter relay, covering the distance in 3:26.41, the Redbirds' Johnathan Bumpers finishing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of: 15.52, and the Tigers finishing fourth in the 4x200 meter relay, with a time of 1:32.16.

The Tigers, Redbirds and Warriors will compete in the Southwestern Conference meet Tuesday at East St. Louis.

“We're looking forward to conference,” White said. “It's our last regular meet of the year, and it's championship season. We're looking to do well in conference; we think we can do well in conference. We think we're getting it together at the right time.”

Redbirds take Granite City Relays Meet

Alton won the Granite City Relays Meet with 197 points to Granite City’s 147 points, Highland then had 119, Madison 67 and Jennings 39.

First-place finishers in the Granite City Meet were Johnathan Bumpers in the triple jump (37-6.50) and 300 hurdles (41.5); Deonte McCoy in the 100 (10.8); Jaquez Roberson in the shot put (47-1); David Weaver in the discus (141-8); and in the relays 4 x 200 Frosh-Soph (1:36.4); the 4 x 100 varsity (43.9); the 4 x 400 frosh-soph (3:39); and 4 x 400 varsity (3:28.4).

“I would say ending the day on the 4 x 400 was a great way to end that meet,” White said of the Granite Meet. “We ran 3:28 a great race that was really competitive with Granite City and Madison. It was fun to have Cassius Havis on the 4 x 400. He hadn’t run the 400 outdoors and ran a 51.8. Lexi Davis, a pole vaulter, also ran on the team.”

Ahmed Sanders was second in the long jump at Granite City (22-1) and just keeps getting better, White said.

McCoy has been a true sensation for the Redbirds and was Athlete of the Meet, capturing first in the 100 in 10.8 and also shined in relays. The future is bright for McCoy and the Redbirds.

2018 COLLINSVILLE INVITATIONAL

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD MEET

TEAM STANDINGS

Edwardsville, 70.5; Alton, 62; Belleville West, 53; Mascoutah, 52; O'Fallon, 44; Collinsville, 43.5; Cahokia, 43; Springfield, 37; Centralia, 36; Waterloo, 32; Freeburg, 28. Granite City, 27; Quincy, 20; Springfield Lanphier,18; Belleville East, 17; Vandalia, 16; Tuscola, 16; East St. Louis, 14; Rantoul, 12; Trenton, Wesclin, 12; Highland, 9; Roxana, 8; Carbondale, 8; Carlinville, 8; Breese Mater Dei, 7; Belleville Althoff, 7; O'Fallon First Baptist Academy, 3

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (TOP FIVE ONLY)

HIGH JUMP: Zack Pluff, Freeburg, 6-6; Johnathan Keeler, Centralia, 6-2; Russhyd Hollis, East St. Louis, 6-2; A'Jonte Lee, Springfield Lanphier, 6-2; Antwan Baker, Cahokia, 6-2

POLE VAULT: Zane Steele, Vandalia, 13-6; Blake Nevill, Edwardsville, 13-6; Cameron Withers, Vandalia, 12-6; Kyle Ciborwowski, Trenton Wesclin, 12-0; Seby Wolf, Highland, 12-0

LONG JUMP: Kenyon Johnson, Edwardsville, 22-9.75; Quan Cobb, O'Fallon, 21-1.25; Ahmad Sanders, Alton, 21-4.25; Brendan Meng, Freeburg, 21-0.5; Roderick Williams, O'Fallon, 20-10

TRIPLE JUMP: Curtis Williams, Belleville West, 44-6; Dontea Jones, Centralia, 44-4.5; A'Jonte Lee, Springfield Lanphier, 44-2.5; Jerome Williams, Belleville East, 44-3.5; Jaylin Mosby, Belleville West, 43-2.5

DISCUS THROW: Jordan Johnson, Quincy, 180-6; Jordan Hawkins, Roxana, 178-3; Jackson Ivers, 157-8; Hunter Woodard, Tuscola, 152-5; Anthony Guzman, Granite City, 131-8

SHOT PUT: Hunter Woodard, Tuscola, 58-7.5; Amari Brooks, Edwardsville, 51-11.5; Jordan Johnson, Quincy, 51-7.5; Cody Vonalevn, Springfield Lanphier, 50-2; Dustin Petty, Collinsville, 48-6

4X800 RELAY: Waterloo, 7:58.86; Mascoutah, 8:01.10; Belleville East, 8:21.48; O'Fallon, 8:34.16; Belleville West, 8:36.98

4X100 RELAY: Alton, 42.86 seconds (Wilson, Bumpers, Singleton, McGoy); Mascoutah, 43.00; Edwardsville, 43.25 (Rodgers, Abdur-Rahman, Johnson, Ryan); Collinsville, 43.29; East St. Louis, 43.78

3200 METERS: Roland Prenzler, Edwardsville, 9:25.77; Ethan Cherry, Carbondale, 9:53.77; Luke Goebel, Breese Mater Dei, 10:16.44; Sam Forness, Springfield, 10:22.81; Patrick Thompson, Mascoutah, 10:24.98

110 HURDLES: Stephen Harris, Cahokia, 15.25 seconds; Robert Williams, Springfield, 15.26; Tyrone Treadwell, Springfield, 15.46; Jonathan Bumpers, Alton, 15.52; Tyler Tindall, Granite City, 15.77

100 METERS: Jermarrion Stewart, Collinsville, 11.08 seconds; Deonte McGoy, Aton, 11.13; Eddie Wilson, Mascoutah, 11.14; Dorian Brown, O'Fallon, 11.26; Matthew Patrick, Centralia, 11.28

800 METERS: Clayton Kirkham, Waterloo, 1:59.40; Jacob Ramirez, O'Fallon, 1:59.41; Jason Landon, Carlinville, 2:00.10; Kelvin Cummings, Alton, 2:00.53; Jimmy Reed, Belleville West, 2:00.94

4X200 RELAY: Belleville West, 1:28.50; Mascoutah, 1:29.38; Cahokia, 1:31.20; Edwardsville, 1:32.16 (Abdur-Rahman, Johnson, Battle, Ryan); Belleville Althoff, 1:32.58

400 METERS: Jermarrion Stewart, Collinsville, 50.15 seconds; Jerry Harper, Rantoul, 50.33; Jackson McAlister, Waterloo, 51.21; Ni'Zarlen Cason, Belleville West, 51.60; Matthew Abe-Bell, Springfield, 51.64

300 HURDLES: Robert Williams, Springfield, 39.35 seconds; Lanard Harris, Cahokia, 39.64; Daniel Powell, Edwardsville, 39.89; Stephen Harris, Cahokia, 39.99; Andrew Johnson, East St. Louis, 40.63

1600 METERS: Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City, 4:13.59; Charlie Parrish, Freeburg, 4:21.50; Lucas Capistrant, O'Fallon, 4:24.33; Jack Pifer, Edwardsville, 4:25.08; Cassius Havis, Alton, 4:25.41

200 METERS: Matthew Patrick, Centralia, 22.46 seconds; Darreon West, Cahokia, 22.49; Deonte McGoy, Alton, 22.82; Ni'el Hill, Belleville West, 22.87; Antonio Harrison, Alton, 23.60

4X400 RELAY: Belleville West, 3:23.76; Alton, 3:26.41 (Bratton, Sanders, Bumpers, Cummings); Mascoutah, 3:26.39; Collinsville, 3:27.90; Edwardsville, 3:28.48 (Powell, Townsend, Ryan, Battle)Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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